The funded level for Towers Perrin’s benchmark plan in the United States dropped by 2.2 percentage points to 93% in July as equities lost significant ground while long bond yields remained relatively stable.
“Even after this change, the funded ratio remains near its high water mark for the post-‘perfect storm’ capital market period,” says its Capital Markets Update.
The funded level is still 3.6 percentage points higher than the 89.4% funded ratio at the start of the year.
Large cap stocks returned -3.1% in July while small/mid-cap stocks came in at -5.8% and international stocks produced a -1.5% return for the month. Year-to-date, this asset class has returned 9.1%.
Long bond yields were mixed last month. The 30-year Treasury bond yield dropped 20 basis points to 4.92% while the Merrill Lynch 10+ High Quality index yield moved up 8 basis points to 6.34%.
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